The Sex Appeal Competition, Ctd

Regarding the reader who lamented that the lesbian Abby Wambach was ignored by the media for the likes of straight Hope Solo and Alex Morgan: Abby is in the ESPN Body Issue too, and dammmnnnnn, she's HOT. And I'm straight even.

The original reader had also lamented over Megan Rapinoe, and, well, see for yourself. Another reader:

This article asks: What if every Olympic sport was photographed like beach volleyball? Pretty interesting results.

On that note, Jack Moore breaks down the various ways sports photographers and their agencies serve up the rear ends of beach volleyball players. Another challenges the premise that Olympic events that show more skin are preferred over others when it comes to coverage:

Networks cover the events that are exciting and usually fairly short.

In track, there's lots of coverage for sprints, high jumps, hurdles, and pole vaulting. How much is there for the marathon? Where's all the coverage for racewalking? Few people are interested in rowing as a sport. Ditto fencing. Cycling can be exciting, but even the multi-week Tour de France can easily be distilled down for the average viewer to two hours a week. Then there's archery and shooting, which just aren't gripping. And on and on.

In the winter, it's downhill, ski jumping, bobsledding, speed skating, and the like. Cross country? Biathlon? Eh, not so much. Back in the days that figure skaters had compulsories, you never saw them. You saw their routines. Why? Because the compulsories were boring as hell while the routines are exciting. Yet the women wore tiny outfits for both.

Simply put, the events that get the most coverage are the events that are most exciting. Still, I have to admit that the uniforms for beach volleyball are a very pleasant plus.